dear friend and my brother Nick told me that I will be speaking for one and a half hours and I did not see any response from you at that time so I hope you all agree that I can speak up to one and a half hours I hope so I would like to start because one of the things is you know before anyone speak that engagement stuff right how to get attention from everyone today we have a lot of children as well how to get an attention you know so one of the challenge so I'd like to tell you a joke before I start my sermon you know one beautiful morning like this a pastor told his congregation that I have prepared three sermons first sermon it cost hundred dollars it lost only for five minutes and the second one it cost fifty dollars and it will last for fifteen minutes and the third one it will cost only twenty dollars but the sermon will go for an hour by the time he told that before I make a decision I'm going to send my deacons to collect the money first then I will make a decision by the time one brother from the friend wrote told the pastor pastor I am good for five minutes then the pastor said good let's let me let us wait for some time and some brother in the middle row he told you know I am good for fifteen minutes I can manage up to fifteen minutes pastor said that's great and one brother from the back row said the pastor I would like to hear one hour sermon with all curiosity the pastor asked that brother why would why you would like to hear one hour service then he told at least I can have and one hour nap so I promise I it won't be too long I will make sure that you can go for your lunch so great to see all of you in the precious name of a Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I'd like to read Isaiah chapter 53 verses 1 to 12 Isaiah chapter 53 verses 1 to 12 who has believed our report and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed for he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground he has no form of commonness and we in we see him there is no beauty that we should desire him he's despised and rejected by men a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and we hid as it were our faces from him he was despised and we did not esteem him surely he has born our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we esteemed him stricken smitten by God and afflicted but he was wounded for our translations he was breached for our inequities the chastisement for our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed as we like sheep have gone astray we have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all he was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth he was led as a lamp to the slaughter and as a sheep before its shear is silent so he opened not his mouth he has taken from prison and from judgment and who will declare his generation for he was cut off from the land of the living for the transgressions of my people he was stricken verse nine and they made him graved with a wicked but the rich at his death because he had done no violence nor was any deceit in his mouth yet it pleased the Lord to bruce him he has put him to grieve when you make his soul an offering for sin he shall see he see he shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand he shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied by his knowledge my righteous servants shall justify many for he shall bear the iniquities therefore I will divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul unto death and he was numbered with the transgresses and he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgresses that these words speak to our hearts today let's pray heavenly Father we thank you for bringing us together this morning open our hearts and minds and our ears to hear what you have to say please speak to our hearts through the message let it not be my voice but yours let your name be glorified in Jesus name we pray amen what is the meaning of substitution the title of my message that cross our substitution what is the meaning of substitution when I prepare this message I open the dictionary in that Oxford dictionary it says the action of replacing someone with another person when you hear the word substitute what comes to your mind first when you substitute teacher great I was thinking about that anything else substitute when you think about substitute baking good I'm not good in baking so I do not know how you make some substitutions in that sorry yes wonderful taking someone's place great so yeah wonderful wonderful in sports all the time we talk about substitute so the same thing as Brother Nick mentioned first when I talk about substitute the first thought came to my mind is about substitute teacher we all know about substitute teacher right how it works you know when the main teacher could not able to go to school or when they were sick at that time only people will think of the substitute teachers but you know for principle substitute teachers are like angels because they have to run the school if someone is absent immediately they pick the call of sent an email and say you know can you please come today but most of the time here a lot of children sitting here this morning do you like substitute teachers children are you able to hear me do you like substitute teachers yes very good you're great most of the time people even don't give the value for the substitute teachers because they will come once in a while and they go similarly as brothers that in sports in any kind of sports it's a volleyball or cricket or baseball I saw key or whatever it is always we they will keep some substitute players but people always focus on the main players right not the substitute I would like to give an example my favorite game is cricket probably you know that Canada also have a national team of cricket I'm sure most of you know it but Canada do have a team during my school days you know I play a lot of street cricket you know so the way it have the way it works is you know two good players they come and they will start picking players okay you come to my team you come to my team they can take maximum of 11 people okay so maybe 30 people is surrounded over there how then they will say that okay Lord win you can be my substitute you play most of the time in my life I actually you know I took the place of substitution so for substitution the way you know the only way if any main player got insured that's the only time they'll call the substitute to come and play so we'll keep on thinking sitting oh when my time will come when my but it never happens in that way right so we always wait and wait and wait and the other thing we have to take the water bottle the main player to go and give a cup of water to so that he can play well then sometimes you have to give a towel or something to sweating and things like that so all these kind of the substitution who are set as substitutes they do but the fact is the people often give less value to the substitutes but most of the times you know we should know that we should not underestimate the substitute whether it's in sports or in school or in college or in church or in life whatever it is you know don't undervalue yourself if you feel like you are in the background God often uses those in the shadows to shine the brightest when the time comes I would like to give one more example you probably heard about the built-wise construction company is that name sounds familiar if not that's fine think of any construction company okay if that construction company calling for a job advertisement there are five permanent position and our five substitution position which position you'll apply for which one main position permanent position because we have to pay our bills we don't want to take any substitution position right we always wanted to have that permanent we wanted to be permanent position so that we can get everything so substitution always comes next I'd like to tell one thing you probably heard about the name Charles Dickens he's a literary genius a great literary genius one of the stories that many people that remembered in his name at Tale of Two Cities London Paris there are two very close friends Charles Dickens and so Sydney Cotton and and Charles Darnie they were very close friends in that novel you know they look similar they were identical exact the same so Sydney Cotton and Charles Darnie both of them they loved the same girl both they loved Lucy Manet but the girl plus he procatered to Sydney Cotton's friend Charles Darnie tragedy in the time of French Revolution Sydney Cotton's friend Charles Darnie crossed over to do some business transactions in France for some reasons the French Revolutionary Force misunderstood his identity caught him and put him into prison awaiting execution this news crossed over to England Sydney Cotton could have waited for a few days or little more than a week or something like that the French would have done the dirty job he could have gone to the girl and said I may be the second best and the only one left now but he didn't do that he went to France smuggled himself into the prison go to the man and said changed man change and the content prisoner changed his clothing escaped and the man who was not guilty stayed to die that sounds sad isn't it Sydney Cotton be a snow hatred his love for Lucy Manet is so pure that he's willing to die for her happiness even though it costs Sydney Cotton's life in the last two lines of the novel it says it is a far for better thing than I do than I have ever done it is a far for better risk than I go to than I have never known well this is a novel let's see what Bible is saying about substitution the real substitution I saw chapter 3 it was I saw chapter 53 it was written more than 700 years before that Jesus was born and it was a stunningly accurate picture of what he came to do for us this is perhaps the oldest or the clearest won't this man prophecy of substitution he's he did not or he suffered not for his own scene but for our scene so if you look at the world is meant the substitution is deeply rooted in the sacrificial system where an animal dies in the place of a sinner that means in place of instead of in Leviticus 4 we see if someone sinned they would bring an animal like a bull or lamp or goat the priest would slaughter the animal and offer its blood as a substitute for the person sin in Leviticus 431 it says the priest shall make atonement for him and he shall be forgiven so these sacrifices pointed to the need of a substitutionary atonement that's the Passover lamp foreshadowed the coming of Jesus Christ in Genesis chapter 22 verse 13 it says Abraham lifted his eyes Genesis chapter 22 verse 13 then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns so Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son so here we see the ram is offered as a substitute for Isaac so this is one of the clearest early biblical pictures of substitution we can see in many places in Exodus we see the Passover lamp in Leviticus we see the atonement through substitution and in Isaiah chapter 53 we see the suffering servant so in Colossians chapter 2 verse 17 all these are shadows symbols and previews of what was to come in new testament we see Jesus Christ our substitute so when Jesus Christ came to this world he fulfilled all the ultimate patterns and promises he does not abolish the law or the sacrificial system he completes the purpose Matthew 5 17 it says think not that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfill in John 1 29 we read behold the lamp of God who takes away the sin of the world first Peter 2 24 says who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree that we have died that we having died to sins might leave for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed so it is very interesting to see here in the world this man times the world this man priest transferred sin into the animal in new testament our sin was placed in Christ he become the sin bearer I saw a 53 prophesies over and over again we see I saw a predict that the Messiah would bear our sins for us that is a substitutionary atonement he took our place bearing our sins in his body on the cross we can see in Isaiah chapter 53 many many times talks about the substitutionary atonement verse 4a surely our griefs he himself bore for be and our sorrows he carried yet we esteemed him stricken smitten of God and afflicted but he was pierced to our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities the chastening for our well being fell upon him by his courage we are healed the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him he was cut off the land of the living for the transgression of my people my servant will justify the many he will bear the in we will bear the iniquities he himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgresses we can see the substitutionary statements written in Isaiah chapter 53 second Corinthians 5 21 this morning we meditated on those words for he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him he became sin in our place and gave us righteousness in return it is important for us to understand when that substitution took place it is very very important for us to understand when that substitution took place so I'd like to mention few things about the historical context of the cross and crucifixion you know the crucifixion did not start with the Romans it was first used by the Persians they used it to make a death slow and painful then the Romans took it further they perfected the crucifixion as a tool of torture they made it as cruel as possible the Romans used the crucifixion to punish and scare people they wanted everyone to know if you go against Rome this is what happens historians say the Roman crucified tens of thousands of people around the time of Jesus Christ up to 30,000 people were crucified in and around Israel so crucifixion was a brutal method of execution by the Roman empires you know the crucifixion they actually they designed the crucifixion for rebels for criminals for slaves crucifixion was so horrible people did not even like to talk about it Jewish people fancied that he does a curse in Deuteronomy 21 23 very cursed is everyone who is hunk on a tree it's a curse in late if you look at the first century the cross was not a religious symbol it was a tool of terror and death it was disgusting and offensive it's so horrible later in second and third century when the church grew Christian began to use the cross but more privately they used crossing art writings and in jewelry still it was not widely accepted because Christianity was illegal in the Roman Empire in fourth century big change happened in the fourth century the great Roman Emperor Constantine the great he embraced Christianity in 313 AD Constantine issues the edict of Milan making Christianity legal in the Roman Empire from the symbol of shame it has become a symbol of love it has become a symbol of joy it has become a symbol of peace and beauty and eternal salvation 2000 years ago Jesus Christ came to this world why Jesus came to this world he came to save the sinners he came to serve the will of God he taught us love he taught us mercy he taught us kindness he taught how to be the how to live in the kingdom of God he never sinned not even once yet he was nailed to the cross and died a criminal's death even though he did nothing wrong he chose to suffer not for his own sins but for others the cross was once the cruel instrument of torture and death they used to punish the worst criminals worst of worst criminals with unbearable pain and shame but one cross but one cross everything changed the cross of Jesus Christ began the instrument of God's greatest love and mercy that one cross turned shame into glory defeating to victory and death into eternal life what happened on the cross on the cross the innocent son of God suffered bled and died for the sins of the world he was mocked he was rejected and nailed between two criminals and while he conned during agony Jesus spoke Jesus spoke seven words every word revealed a deep love and purpose behind the cross excuse me just we all know about the seven sayings I would like to quickly touch in Luke chapter 23 verse 34 Jesus said father forgive them they do not know what they are doing father forgive them even while suffering Jesus was still in the seeding even while being hatred he was still loving even while being killed he was still forgiving you know people they were mocking him they were killing him if he can forgive them he can forgive you no matter what you are done cross the forgiveness is available on the cross this is a word of mercy look chapter 23 verse 23 and Jesus said to him I surely I say to you today you will be with me in paradise today he didn't say that tomorrow or day after tomorrow or sometime from now he didn't say that today you will be with me in paradise two criminals were crucified with Jesus one mocked him for the other believe saying Lord remember me Lord remember me the thief had no time to fix his life he knew that he will be dying in a while maybe in few hours he'll be dying there's no time for him to fix his life he simply believed and Jesus saved him instantly salvation it's not earned it is received by faith this morning we heard about that it is never too late to turn to Jesus if he saved if he saved a dying thief he can save anyone this is a word of salvation John chapter 19 verse 26 to 27 when Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing by he said to his mother woman behold your son then to his disciples big old your mother and from that hour the disciple took her to his own home woman behold your son in the middle of all the suffering Jesus noticed his mother and care for her future even in agony Jesus cared deeply for the people wrong him he teaches us to love well even when life hurts the cross reminds us that Jesus doesn't just care about your soul he cares about your family he cares about your friend he cares about your ladies he cares everyone this is a word of compassion first three sayings before the sixth hour it is very important for us to understand this before 12 p.m. all these three words when he spoke on the cross it is possible for us to understand it is pretty straightforward isn't it we can able to understand all these first three verses these things were spoken during the first three hours Jesus was on the cross from the third hour to the sixth hour that means from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. in March chapter 15 verse 25 says now it was the third hour and they crucified him so Jesus was crucified at 9 a.m.
and the first three sayings happened before noon where there was still daylight usually we all know that the time 12 noon to 3 p.m. that is the brightest time of the day isn't it 12 noon to 3 o'clock but then Jesus was hanging on the cross that was darkness everywhere Matthew chapter 27 verse 45 says now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness all the land darkness over all the land now this is the first divine act this is a supernatural act this is a supernatural act there is no explanation for this there is no human explanation for this this is a divine miracle our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was identified as light John chapter 8 12 I am the light of the world he who follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life you know the Roman historians like phlegon and Tethulian they wrote about a strange darkness that came over the earth during the time of Jesus Christ fiction that's an ancient document it's called the report of violet to tiberius that says the Roman emperor knew about this event it mentions that on the day from noon to 3 p.m. people they had to light lamps because it was so dark even though it was a daytime the sun was darkened darkness in the scripture is a symbol of judgment darkness is a symbol of judgment I say at chapter 13 verses 9 to 11 it says it talks about the darkness behold the day of the lot comes cruel with both wrath and fierce anchor to lay the land disolate and he will destroy its sinners from it from the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light the sun will be darkened in its going forth and the moon will not cause its light to shine I will punish the world for its evil for and the wicked for their iniquity I will halt the arrogance of the proud and will lay low the hotiness of the terrible I don't know why it's changing but in almost we can see again verses 18a 5 18 and 20 O to you who desire the day of the Lord for what good is the day of the Lord to you it will be darkness and not light it's not a day of the Lord darkness and not light is it not very dark with no brightness in it the darkness at the cross showed that it was a place of God's judgment it wasn't just a man dying it was God pouring out his wrath on sin Matthew chapter 27 46 and about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice say L.A. L.A.
Lama Subaktani that is my God my God why have you for second me you know first what happens he makes the yet dark he separate secondly what happens he separates himself from the God this happens in the ninth hour right at the end of the darkness you know rejection separation it is tough isn't it some of you have felt deeper or being rejected during my recent visit to India I met one of my very close friends I met him after 24 years you know we spent some time together and when we talk about the family he mentioned to me that you know I married a girl who was a Hindu but she accepted Christ as a personal Savior and we married and from the past 24 years her parents they rejected not only her his children and the brother as well so I asked him did you get a chance in the past 20 years did you had a chance to see your grandparents they said no they don't want even to see so rejection it's very tough I felt very sad when I heard that story from him so Jesus experienced rejection he was abandoned by Judas denied by Peter and he was deserted by his disciples but here on the cross something even happened something even greater that happens that is very painful he is forsaken by God you know throughout his life Jesus always called God father but in this moment he cries out my God my God why have you forsaken me this is the only time Jesus calls him God instead of father why because in that moment the relationship was broken Jesus who had never sinned who had never known what it meant out to be a fellowship with a father was suddenly separated you and me know how to live without fellowship if you like someone then we would like to have fellowship with that brother or sister but Jesus Christ always he lived with his father Jesus took upon himself the sins of the world at that moment the God who is holy and pure had to look away the fellowship with the father and the son was broken not because of what Jesus had done but because of what we had done this is the moment Jesus became our substitute this is the moment Jesus became our substitute he took your place he took my place he took the punishment that you and me deserve for everything we have committed and even those since we are going to commit in the future he paid for it he began the sacrifice bearing the full weight of our sin someone has to pay send it either you have to pay for your sins or someone else and God in infinite love he said I will do it I will send my son as a substitute first John 2 2 says he is that toning sacrifice for our sin and not only for others but also for the sins of the whole world the sad truth we need to understand the sad truth Jesus already paid for the sins of the whole world yet some people still die and go to hell not because the sins were in paid for but because they rejected the payment they rejected the grace of God Jesus is the toning sacrifice for our sins God made him no sin to be sin to become a sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God God took all the guilt and shame from your life and poured into Jesus then in exchange he poured his righteousness into you that's substitution I'd like to quickly touch three points before I finish God is holy you know holy holy Revelation chapter 4 verse 8 we read holy holy holy holy is the Lord God almighty who was and is and is to come you know the famous song written by Bishop Reginald Heber holy holy holy though the darkness hide thee though the eye of sinful man by glory may not see only thou what holy that is none beside thee perfect in power in love and purity so God's holiness is one of the central themes of the Bible we worship him because of his holiness scripture tells that God alone is holy in first chamels chapter 2 verse 2 it says God alone is holy God is perfect he has never done anything wrong he cannot tolerate sin he does not bring that evil or ignore the wrong doing how about cook 113 it says your eyes are too pure to look on evil you cannot tolerate wrong doing her holiness demands justice so sin must be dealt with not because God is harsh but because he's holy second sin is serious Romans chapter 6 verse 23 for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord you know sin always leads to death we often take sin very likely but if sin where in serious Jesus we have to die sin is deadly sin is deadly it destroys relationships it destroys families it destroys our relationship with God so at the cross what happens every evil act every rape every murder every adultery every abuse was placed on Jesus he took it all sometimes when we do some mistakes or some sin you know our conscious hurts us for small one sin just imagine the entire world sin was poured on him how difficult how hard it is last one grace is costly first Peter 1 verse 18 and 19 knowing that you were not redeemed with correctable things like silver or gold from your aimless contact received by tradition from your fathers but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot your salvation was in brought with money it cost the precious blood of Jesus Christ grace is free but it's not cheap it cost Jesus everything on the cross not only Jesus Christ suffered physically he was suffered spiritually emotionally he was rejected so you could be accepted he was abandoned so you could be brought in he was punished so you could be forgiven in John 19 28 after this knowing that all things were now accomplished that scripture might be fulfilled he said I cursed on the on the cross he experienced a real human pain suffering exhaustion blood loss dehydration and full of agony of crucifixion verse says John chapter 4 verse 13 and 14 Jesus answered and said to her who ever drinks of this water will cursed again but who ever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst again but the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water stringing up into your last life John chapter 7 37 and verse 37 and 38 on the last day the great day of the feast Jesus stood and cried out saying if anyone thirst let him come to me and drink he who believes in me as a scripture has said out of his heart will flow and rivers of flowing of living water so Jesus said I thirst so that we would never thirst again John chapter 19 verse 30 so when Jesus had received a sour wine he said it is finished and bowing he said he gave up his spirit this is a sixth day saying and the victory cry of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in Greek Jesus said that'll stop you know that else time means is a shout of a triumph is a victory cry it is completed the death is paid in full the mission is accomplished what was finished the penalty of sin was fully paid the work of redemption was completed the power of Satan the power of sin and death was broken Jesus didn't say I am finished he said it is finished everything necessary for salvation was done nothing more could be added the last one father into your hands I commit my spirit look chapter 23 verse 46 and when Jesus cried out with a loud voice he said father into your hands I commit my spirit having said this he breathed his last you know here the interesting thing again he called him as father in the fourth words my God my God now the relationship is restored Jesus gives his life willingly not taken from him he's surrendered his spirit so you could have eternal life God is eager to forgive the repentance sinners last week we heard the message of the prodigal son you know the prodigal son's father is a vivid picture of God's eagerness to forgive the cross is the greatest demonstration of love that world has ever known it is where Jesus the perfect son of God willingly took our place he substituted himself for us Jesus took our place he bore the weight of all our sins you know the past the present and the future every mistake every wrongdoing every moment of shame he took it all on himself he took on the penalty of sin so that we might be reconciled to the father he faced the full wrath of God so we could receive the full grace of God this is what mean by the substitutionary atonement Jesus paid the price we could not pay he died the death we deserved this is the power of cross Jesus paid it all we all know the tragic story of Titanic the story of the Titanic is a powerful reminder of how life can change instantly in 1912 it was made its made in voyage from Southampton to New York the Titanic struck an iceberg on the night of April 1912 people from all walks of life rich poor educated uneducated all kinds of people they were traveling we know the story many people they lost their lives after all the such operations were completed that you not company in New York they published a list there's only two categories lost and saved no other categories we may have different level of education we may have a different family histories but in the eyes of the Lord there are only two categories when our lives comes to an end lost or safe maybe must ask ourselves where will be be will our name be in the same category or in the last category Jesus made it possible for us to be saved he wants us to be saved he wants us to be in the saved category to spent eternity with him what does this is my last slide what does the Bible say we must do to be saved we must admit that we are sinners Romans three 23 says for all have sinned and false shot of the glory of God second thing believe that Jesus is the son of God who died for your sins and rose again third a repent of sin repentance means turning away from sin and turning to God with a sincere heart confess Him as Lord confessing Jesus as Lord means surrendering your life to his authority not 20 percent not 80 percent 100 percent receive him by faith this morning we heard about it we need to receive him by faith so salvation is a gift we have to receive it by faith not by works be baptized baptism is a public declaration of your faith and obedience of Christ follow him daily the cross changes everything will you follow him shall we pray heavenly Father we thank you for the incredible gift of Jesus our sin bearing Messiah our sin bearing substitute thank you for the reminder today of who Jesus is and what he did for us we can't fully grasp the death of his sacrifice Lord but we are so thankful he took our place you are the perfect substitute in our lives Lord help us to remember this truth every day and not just feel thankful for it but to leave in response to it thank you for the cross Lord I ask you to bless everyone he is here today and listening this message from wherever they are for those who know you strengthen their faith and help them live with joy and freedom that cross brings for anyone who hasn't made the decision to follow to follow you I pray that you would open their hearts to your love and truth may they see the cross and choose to walk with you once again we commit each and everyone into your mighty hands in Jesus name we pray amen